Saddle Design

SADDLE TREES

Jason builds all his saddles on handmade saddle trees.  The trees are made of wood and covered in rawhide/bullhide making them extremely strong and durable.  There are about 18 different styles of saddle trees available to choose from.  Cantle boards are available with 1/2 to 1-1/2 inch dish and 2 to 5 inch heights.  The saddle tree pictured here has a wood post horn but other types of horns are available.  Seat sizes range from approximately 13-18 inches. 

SADDLE FIT

Having a hard time finding a saddle that fits your horse?  Jason can custom order any tree to fit the shape of your horse, then build the saddle to fit you and your taste. 

 

GROUND SEAT

There are two basic types of ground seats than can be built on a handmade wood/rawhide covered saddle tree:  the strainer plate or the leather ground seat.  The strainer plate ground seat is made with shaped steel and leather, whereas the all leather ground seat is built using only leather. 

Jason builds most of his saddles with all leather ground seats.  His teacher, Roy McCaughey, developed his own type of leather ground seat that his customer's really like, and he carefully showed Jason how to build them.  The groundseats are made wihth 4-5 layers of leather.  They feel "broke in" even when they are brand new and continue to shape to the rider over time.   They provide a superior seat and allow for better performance and increased rider comfort. 

SEAT TYPES

Jason makes three different types of seats:

                                        
     Traditional Seat                                        Traditional Seat                                          Full Quilt Seat
                                                                               with Inlaid Quilt

Traditional Seat
        This seat is all-leather with a hand-stitched bead roll.  
                                                                                   
Traditional Seat with Inlaid Quilt
         This seat is all-leather with a hand-stiched bead roll and a small section of high-density, closed cell foam to cushion the rider's seat bones.  The foam is covered with a choice of light, dark, or black leather. 

Full Quilt Seat
          This seat is made with high-density, closed cell foam and covered with a choice of light, dark, or black leather.  It is completed with a cheyenne roll.  Many people have found that the full quilt seat makes a long day in the saddle far more enjoyable. 

WEIGHT

Jason’s saddles weigh around 29–36 pounds depending on the type of saddle. Top quality leather is used and is available in chestnut, brown, golden russet and special carving leather for the light coloured show saddles. A saddle that weighs less is easier on your back and your horses back. These saddles are built to work, to look great, and to last.

CLOSE CONTACT DESIGN

- Just between you and your horse -Quite a while back horse trainer/clinician Larry Nelles, who spent time with Tom and Bill Dorrance and Ray Hunt, started promoting Roy McCaughey’s saddles. Together he and Roy developed a method of saddle construction that would allow closer contact between horse and rider, but would not make saddles weaker or less durable. Jason has built upon this method over the years.

SKIRT LININGS

Two types of linings are available. The first option is the traditional, real, sheepskin lining. This type of lining works well and is what most people are used to.

The second option is high-density, closed cell foam and split leather. Western saddle trees are designed to bear the impact and pressure of roping and the riders weight on the bars of the saddle tree. For this reason it is very important to have a saddle with properly shaped bars.  This is also the reason why the cushioning material is only required directly beneath the bars.
When Larry Nelles and Roy McCaughey were designing the close contact saddles they came up with this idea. The special foam is smoothly attached to the leather skirt following the shape of the bars. Split leather is then placed over the foam and stitched to the skirt. This modification makes cleaning easier, causes the blanket beneath the saddle to stay in place better, cushions the horse from the rider’s weight, and wears much longer than sheepskin.